NETWORKS & COMPUTING SYSTEMS

Exponential growth in computing is a fundamental enabler of the changing technologies studied at SU. The NCS track draws upon the resources of Silicon Valley, nexus of multiple computer revolutions, to understand these key areas: We’ll seek to understand some of the technologies that will drive Moore’s law forward, such as molecular computing, 3D circuitry, photonics, DNA/computing, spin storage, memristers, quantum computing, nano computers and more. We’ll also study the barriers including the difficulty of parallelization, energy consumption and reversible computing, computability and scalability to learn the future capabilities of our devices and computational environment. We’ll learn about quantum computing, which has the potential to change our ideas about what is computable and how computer security works. We’ll study how people will interact with computers and devices, exploring 3D interfaces, virtual worlds, augmented reality, haptic interfaces and AI agents. The course will examine the future of networks and new directions for the internet and its successors such as a semantic web, ubiquitous networking and sensing, cloud computing, interplanetary networking, mesh networks, “smart dust” and the “internet of things.” We’ll study how computers connect people and data, exploring social networking, gaming, media and computing, and the implications of a deeply connected world of constant communcation between people, devices, and the building blocks of our cities and infrastructure. As we base our world on these technologies, we’ll consider the depth of the problems faced in securing them, and in protecting civil rights and privacy in such a data-driven world. We’ll consider the implications of data flowing everywhere, and the data deluge in science and society.